Time Shift
by ShinyCDiver
Summary: Chika and the rest of Aqours are following a five year old mystery surrounding the disappearance of another group of school idols. Their last appearance was in the mountain villa, where they vanished without a trace. Having reached the villa, Aqours must make their next move to unravel the mystery and escape.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi.**

 **This time I decided to mess with time.**

 **Because reasons.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

There were many rumors surrounding the abandoned villa in the mountains. Once owned by the wealthy Nishikino family, it had sat abandoned for five years since the disappearance of nine high school students in the same area. From the outside, it appeared to be in complete disrepair. No one had set foot inside since the sudden disappearance that tagged the building as a haunted hotspot.

And for that very reason, nine high school students had made the trip from their seaside town of Uchiura to visit the haunted villa.

Chika led the way, confidently following the overgrown path up the hill. Even the road leading up to the villa had been without care, and weeds grew profusely in the dirt. "Look! I can see the top of the villa-we're almost there!" She shouted glancing back at the rest of her friends. She faced forward again, keeping an eye on the path so she wouldn't lose her footing.

"The place where µ's vanished without a trace five years ago…"

* * *

Normally, a destination with such a strange and mysterious past would not even be considered as a potential place to visit for a group of aspiring school idols. With the building's main attraction of being where nine high school students went missing, no one in their right mind would even bother looking into it. But, as Chika was researching past Love Live competitions to see which groups won and why they were victorious, she found something interesting. Something she felt was worth researching: the school idol group that made Love Live popular five years ago.

The idol group A-Rise, during their post-victory interview at the end of the Love Live competition five years ago made mention of a rival group that they had looked forward to competing with. It was a group that they had competed against before, and one that never made it to a second match. However, what made this particular article stand out amongst the others was a video clip of the interview. Chika clicked on it, planning on moving onto another, more interesting page once the clip had finished.

 _"And what do you think would have happened if they hadn't missed the preliminaries?" The interviewer asked. The camera focused in on the leader of A-Rise._

 _"They would have beaten us. If they had returned, I'm quite confident we would not stand a chance."_

That caught Chika's attention. A-Rise was famous now, as a professional group of idols. They had been what inspired her and the rest of her group to pursue the same glory at Love Live. And yet, the video clip brought several questions to her mind. What if that other group had won the preliminaries? Would they have gone on to ultimately win Love Live instead of A-Rise? And who were they anyway?

She brought these questions to the other group members. It was almost as if they felt the same questions nagging at them, with how readily they accepted the suggestion to disregard training for a bit to do more searching on this mystery. A few days passed as each of the girls searched in their own ways; Kanan, Dia, and Mari even making the trek to Tokyo to glean any information out of the students still there.

It was Hanamaru who finally discovered the article that would lead them to the abandoned villa. Searching the local library for news clippings from five years ago, she discovered what little information had been found related to the disappearance.

 _A training camp held in the mountains, at one of the villas owned by the Nishikino family. µ's member, Nishikino Maki, allowed for the group to stay for two-day training session. A day after said training camp was to end and the students return to their homes, attempts to contact the nine were made. No responses came back, and search parties were sent to the villa. There was no evidence of a struggle, no damage had been done to any of the buildings._

"It was," the article said, "as if they had simply vanished into thin air."

* * *

So now, five years after the incident, Aqours stood in front of the villa. They were hesitant to go inside, even though Mari had pulled strings and gotten permission from the Nishikino family to explore the building. After a few minutes of milling about in front of the villa, they decided to sit down and have a short picnic. The tense mood generated by the monument standing a short distance away slowly vanished as they ate and chatted with one another.

Chika stared at the building as she chewed, only half-listening to the other girls' chatter. It was strange that the building appeared to be in such fine condition. From what Mari had told them about her conversation with the Nishikino, the villa had been left alone since the disappearance five years ago. The road leading up to the villa had certainly not been kept in pristine condition, and yet the building itself didn't look old or dirty or abandoned even. She noticed that the bushes lining the walls were trimmed and neat, something that should not be the case if it had been completely neglected for five years.

Like when she had first made contact with the mystery, she felt a nagging sensation at the back of her mind. It was like something was pulling at her, from inside the building.

"I don't feel hungry anymore zura." Hanamaru said abruptly, putting down her sandwich. The others stared; the first year was starting to get a reputation for eating a lot of food quickly, but this was only her first sandwich.

"Does your stomach hurt?" You asked. "Maybe you ate one of Yoshiko-chan's- "

"Yohane!" Yoshiko interrupted indignantly.

You stared at her for a second, then continued. "Yoshiko-chan's sandwiches."

"No, it doesn't hurt. I just feel like…" Hanamaru gestured at the building, unable to come up words to describe her feeling.

"I think I've been feeling the same thing." Ruby mumbled. "Someone's calling for help…or something."

Hanamaru nodded in agreement. The two first years stared in the direction of the building, waiting for one of the older members to tell them what they should do.

"We've come all this way," Chika said, getting to her feet, "so we should go inside."

"What? Are you crazy?" Riko asked, getting up as well. "We know it's haunted, and we're all feeling weird, so by common sense, we should leave."

Chika turned to look at her friends. Fear was the main emotion on their faces. Fear of an unknown, something they didn't understand and didn't want to understand. She felt it too, the same desire to turn tail and run home, to where she was comfortable. But there was something here. It was important, somehow, though she didn't know how. And if they were all being affected by the whatever-it-was, surely her friends could feel that importance too.

"I, for one, am certainly not going back without exploring this place." Kanan said. "Chika's right. We've come too far to do nothing."

Agreement was drawn, albeit grudgingly from the others. They cleaned up the picnic, storing whatever trash they had in plastic bags, and packing up the reusable supplies into their backpacks. Chika put her hand on the doorknob, and glanced back at her friends once more. She took a deep breath, and pushed down and in at the same time.

A feeling of what she could only describe as a ripple washed past her. Without knowing how she knew, she understood that something in the space of the villa had changed. "Is everyone okay?" She asked, as soon as the strange wave had passed. When she didn't get an answer, she turned to look behind her. But her friends, who had just been standing behind her, were no longer there.

* * *

Honoka awoke in her futon. She'd been waking up in the same position, in the same pajamas, in the same room, for the past five years, give or take. She sat up, stretching, and looked around her for her friends. The futons nearby were empty. That wasn't unusual. The time loop meant that she would always be the last to wake, no matter what.

For the time being, she decided to go wash up and get changed. She made her way to the second-floor bathroom, and opened the door. The fact that she hadn't passed or heard anyone yet was a bit unsettling, but she pushed it aside. They had all been trying to do things that would get them out of this loop, so if everyone else went outside while she slept, that wasn't that big of a deal. She changed out of her pajamas into her exercise clothes, which had once again been folded up, neatly packed in her travel bag. There wasn't much variation in day-to-day clothing when she only had two sets and her pajamas.

She walked back downstairs, still not seeing anyone. Honoka was starting to feel even more uncomfortable now. Even if they had been locked in a single day for the past five or so years, at least they had the memories of being looped, and all nine of them had been together. Being alone now was terrifying.

"Hello?" Honoka called out nervously, as she slowly put away the futons by herself. She closed the closet, deciding to go outside and see if she could find anyone. "Are you all practicing out here?"

The outside of the villa was empty as well. She could hear the animals in the forest going about their daily lives, but it was far too quiet by her standards. She was suddenly aware of how alone she was.

* * *

Chika retreated from the mansion, closing the door quietly. She should have gone home. Now she was painfully alone, and she didn't understand anything either. She tried to head back down the path, which had become foggy even though the day was so nice. The fog enveloped her a short distance down the path. When she came out of the fog, she was facing the villa again, though she hadn't turned as she walked away.

"I'm locked in." She said aloud, as the realization came to her. "And if I'm trapped, then so are the others. Which means they're somewhere in here." That gave her a glimmer of hope, small though it was, and she returned to the villa's entrance.

"Hello?!" She shouted, trying to be as loud as she possibly could. "I'm right here, so if you hear me, come find me!"

* * *

Honoka walked cautiously to the front of the villa. She'd heard the stranger, but hadn't recognized the voice. It was strange that she had become so fearful of change, but the last five years had been spent doing almost exactly the same things every single day, which was also the same due to their time loop. She peered around the corner.

A strange girl wearing a strange uniform stared up at the villa, frowning slightly. Something about her was familiar, for some reason, though Honoka knew they had never met before. Mustering up her courage, she walked up to the girl. "Hello." She said, her voice calmer than she felt. "I'm Honoka. Who are you?"

Chika looked at the other girl. She was on guard, as she was taught to be when meeting strangers. But she felt something familiar about this girl. "Ah!" She pointed at Honoka, who jumped back, startled. "It's you! You're the one who was calling to me!"

* * *

 **Chika: So this time around, we're doing the afterword in pairs and by alphabetical order.**

 **Dia: I guess it's me and you first then. *sighs*  
**

 **Chika: What's wrong, Dia-san? You don't want to be paired up with me?**

 **Dia: It's not that. I'm just a bit...disappointed that this is the only time I'm mentioned this chapter. I would say spoke, but Mari-san didn't talk either.**

 **Chika: Really? I thought you were both in the chapter a lot.**

 **Dia: ...you were the main voice, you know.**

 **Chika: *has nothing to say*  
**

 **Dia: *has nothing to say***

 **Chika: *turns to the readers* Want a mikan? *offers some***


	2. Chapter 2

**Chika: *currently reading the reviews* Eh? Who wouldn't want a mikan? Although I guess you also get a new chapter today, so there's that... *puts the review down* Well, I guess I'll get going then.**

 **Dia: You're switching out with the next person, right?**

 **Chika: Yup! I'll see all of you *readers* later! *bounces out the door***

* * *

It was no use. Maki stared at the blank page before her. No matter how many times she had found a tune and scribbled it down, the time loop returned the sheet to its blank form. And yet, she always returned to the piano, sat down before it, and started writing the music again. From nothing except her memory, she played and wrote. Her efforts were for naught, she knew, as long as they were trapped in frozen time. "But still..." She raised her hands over the piano again, prepared to play the tune she had been practicing for so many years.

A strange feeling passed through her. If she were a poet, she would have called it a 'wave of new hope', because that's what it felt to her. "Did something happen?" She asked quietly, to herself. The rest of the members had already gone to tend to their daily tasks, with the exception of Honoka, who was still sleeping in the middle of the lounge. It occurred to her to check on Honoka. With a sigh, Maki got up from the bench and walked towards the lounge.

"What the-?" The futons were already put away. But she hadn't heard anyone moving, or seen anyone wander into the room from outside. A quick glance at the clock told her that it was after the time that Honoka woke up, yet it had never happened that she didn't notice the orange-haired girl getting up. The time loop had never changed before now, and she was distinctly uncomfortable. However, it wasn't as if she completely understood everything about the loop, so she wrote it off as just a random happening. Even though such a thing had never happened during their five years of being trapped.

Maki shook her head, refusing to dwell on the topic. She returned to the piano. She remembered the notes, even if the written form had been erased. She started playing, her fingers dancing across the piano keys with the muscle memory written into them.

* * *

Riko scowled. So, she had been right; they really should not have gone towards the villa. The strangeness of the whole situation was unsettling enough without all of her friends suddenly vanishing on her as well. The door suddenly shut in front of her, with a quiet deliberateness that made her think of someone being there. But there wasn't. She reached forward into the gap between herself and the door, where Chika had been just a few seconds ago, and felt nothing but air push against her hand.

No, she wanted nothing to do with this. She hadn't wanted to do any of this from the very beginning, even with the strange nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Okay, so maybe she had wanted this, a little, but not enough to welcome the current situation. "Calm down…" She told herself. "Think, Riko. There has to be something here that's causing this."

It was the villa that caused the ripple, and the subsequent separation. She had no idea where the rest of the group could have gone, but she knew them all quite well at this point. The idea of leaving without everyone present would never cross their minds…she hoped.

There was no point in standing around outside. She grabbed the doorknob, half-expecting another ripple to occur, and pushed the door open. Nothing happened, even as Riko tensely waited for the wave to hit her. After a few seconds passed without anything strange affecting her, she cautiously moved inside.

The first thing she noticed was the sound of piano playing.

* * *

Maki paused, stretching a bit. Maybe she shouldn't even write the notes down, with how easily the song came back to her. Yet, at the same time, she got the sense that the song she was playing wasn't correct. There was something missing about it, that made it wrong somehow. "It's better to write things down so I can correct them…" She lowered the cover over the piano keys, and placed the blank sheets on top of the polished wood. "Ah, but I don't have a pencil. I keep forgetting it gets put back in my bag." Once again, she got up from the bench. The lingering question of where Honoka had vanished to pressed against her mind as she walked out of the lounge, but it vanished before her confusion at seeing a complete stranger in the entryway. Something was definitely up with the time loop if a stranger had managed to wander in after five years of nothing. "Who are you?" She asked bluntly.

* * *

"Um, I'm Sakurauchi Riko." Riko responded immediately. She dipped her head immediately to the other girl, feeling like somehow that was the natural order to things, even the other girl felt younger than her. As she straightend back up, she studied the girl who was glaring so intensely at her. She felt like she should know who this was, yet her mind kept drawing a blank. Given the situation, she should ask for the other's name. Yet… "I know you." She said instead, earning her a look that was both confused and condescending at the same time.

* * *

Kanan stared at the door in confusion. She had watched it close, on its own, and then open again. There was no one near her who could have opened it; they had all gone somewhere else while she was incacipated with the ripple. If-no, when-she found them, she was going to give them all a good scolding for splitting up in such a weird place. Especially Mari and Dia, who she had at least thought had the good sense to stay put even if the others ran off.

"At any rate," she sighed, "I don't feel like going in now. I'll explore outside a bit longer, I guess…" She turned away from the door and headed back down the path. Something told her there was no point going into the fog. The white mist curled halfway down the overgrown path, even though there shouldn't be fog with the amount of sun shining down on her. Sighing once more, she turned away from the fog as well and walked around the side of the villa. "I wonder where everyone else went…"

* * *

Paper balls littered the floor. The trash can was empty, but Umi could care less as she haphazardly tossed another crumpled up sheet over her shoulder. It landed on the soft carpet amongst other paper balls, the rejected lyrics of Umi's creation.

She'd been at this for almost an hour now. Her time in the loop had taught her that she needed to do at least an hour of lyric-writing before she could feel satisfied with the day. Even if that hour was spent throwing paper all over the room, the urge to write would remain with her if she didn't do so. So, she'd come to the conclusion that she should spend an hour in the room as soon as she woke up so she could enjoy the rest of the day with her friends. There wasn't much else that she, or any of the other members, could do given their entrapment in this one single day.

"And time!" She shouted, throwing her pen down on the desk. It left a mark, but she didn't care. Like with everything else in the villa, the desk and floor would be cleared of all messes by the time the next looped day came by. She threw open the window, allowing wind to play with her papers and blow them out.

* * *

"Huh?" Kanan looked up at the sound of something opening, only to have a sheet of paper blow into her face. Momentarily disoriented, she gripped the page in one hand and threw it aside. Her confusion was mirrored by the girl peering down from the second floor window. "Hello!" She shouted, pushing her confusion aside. "My name's Kanan! I'm looking for my friends!"

The girl shook her head, and turned away from the window. Kanan could hear the faint sound of a door opening. It would be too slow to run around back to the front of the villa and enter it. By the time she made it upstairs, who knows where the girl could run off to. Instead, she walked over the base of the villa, directly below the window, and started to scale it. After all, she had great pride in the muscles she built from years spent swimming in the ocean.

* * *

Umi hurried down the stairs, hoping to find someone, anyone really, to confront the stranger with. She stopped at the lounge, surprised to see that Maki wasn't at the piano like she was supposed to be.

"Hey!"

She looked back, shocked to find that the strange girl standing at the rail of the second floor. Umi was terrified. Five years of unchanging time, all of sudden disrupted by someone new. She grabbed a pillow from the sofa and threw it at the other girl.

* * *

Kanan dodged it with ease. Strange, she thought, that she could understand the other girl's fright so easily. She dodged another pillow, still thinking about it. Maybe she had been too forward with her introduction.

A supersonic pillow hit her right in the face. Unable to dodge the overly-fast bullet, Kanan was knocked to the ground with the force of the throw. Her consciousness faded…

* * *

 **Dia: ...*sighs* Kanan-san, I can't believe that you went ahead and chased after her like that. Only to get knocked out.**

 **Eri: Umi's supersonic pillows shouldn't be underestimated. *nods* I know from experience.**

 **Dia: Oh. Hello. I see that you're next in the alphabetical order we've been placed in. My name is Kurosawa Dia.**

 **Eri: I'm Ayase Eri. I look forward to working with you.**

 **Dia: Even though I'll be switching out at the beginning of the next chapter?**

 **Eri: Yes. Even with that. *smiles*  
**

 **Dia: ...you are a strange one, aren't you.**


	3. Chapter Two Point Five

**Rather than rush and make a full chapter, I decided to shorten this into a half-chapter, hence this part being titled Chapter 2.5 _(Edit: This site doesn't let me put 2.5 in the chapter title. Nor does it let me do 2/5, 2 and 1/2, or anything else I could think of. So it is now Chapter Two Point Five, all spelled out, to get the point across. Sorry about that.)_ It's a bit of a weird chapter.**

 **Dia: What will become of the commentators then? Since it's a half-chapter.**

 **Eri: I think me and you will continue to be commentators this chapter as well! Which is great, because this chapter focuses on us!**

 **Dia: ... Well, let's read some reviews then. (Eri: She's ignoring me?! OAO ) Hm...there are things that I would like to say but cannot say due to it since it is what you will call a "spoiler" which I'm sure no one wants.**

 **Eri: Ah! But this chapter will have a little insight into how this story world works! It's only mentioned once, so pay close attention!**

 **Dia: That's enough. We don't want to ruin it for our readers.**

 **Eri: Okay. See you at the end of the chapter!**

 **(Author note pt 2: Eri may or may not be out of character in this work. Please forgive me.)**

* * *

Dia jumped at the sound of something hitting the ground. Yet, when she looked around the lounge, all she found out of place was a single pillow lying on the ground. Confused, she picked up the pillow and placed it back on the couch, where she felt it belonged. "This shouldn't have made that much noise but…" She looked around the room again, making sure that she was alone. "I wonder what that could have been. Maybe I should not have come inside."

After watching the door open and close, she decided against going through the main entrance. Instead, she circled villa and entered through the back patio, finding the door there unlocked. She passed through the kitchen and dining area, stopping at the lounge to look around. For some reason, she had just gotten the feeling that she needed to be there, though a quick search let her know there was no one around. She would have moved on, had that sudden thud not stopped her in her tracks. At any rate, she didn't like what they had gotten into. "As soon as we regroup, I'm going to give the ones responsible for this mess a scolding!"

* * *

"Hey!" Eri shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Practice isn't over, you know?! This isn't time to play hide-and-seek!" The blonde sighed as she lowered her arms. Even though the required practice hour was over, she still felt like the others had been slacking as of late. So, she wanted to push them more, especially the three who had been spending their mornings inside, but they'd all vanished on her during their "ten-minute break". "I guess I could have expected this from Nico and Nozomi, but I thought Rin and Hanayo were better than this. And Honoka's not even awake yet." She sighed again. "I guess I may as well see if Honoka has woken up yet. That's one who can't hide from me."

She entered through the front door, seeing as it was the entrance closest to the lounge, where they all had been sleeping. Instead of finding Honoka still asleep amongst the futons and Maki sitting at the piano, she saw a strange black-haired teenager in a uniform she didn't recognize. Without thinking, she backed up into the hallway, leaning against the way. Her heart beat was speeding up, though she couldn't understand why. She certainly had no reason to be frightened of the other person, but somehow, she felt uneasy.

* * *

"Hm?" Dia turned around to look at the other entrance to the room. "Someone there?" She walked over to the entrance and peered out into the hall. Half-expecting to find someone, she sighed with disappointment when she found that the front hall was completely empty. The front door clicked shut, catching her attention. Frowning a bit, she walked down the hall and pulled the door open again. "Huh?"

"Ah…uh….bye!" The blonde stranger on the other side sprinted off towards the trees. In a strange sense, Dia was reminded of her own younger sister. Though, this wasn't any time to be thinking about Ruby. The blonde was the first person Dia had found since her friends vanished, and she wasn't going to let her go easily.

* * *

"Stop right there!"

Eri urged her legs to work faster as she sprinted down the grassy slope towards the trees. She risked glancing back; a high-pitched scream involuntarily escaping her as she realized that the stranger was actually gaining on her. She had a random thought _'Did this person go through Umi's training schedule?'_ before dismissing it as impossible as no normal teenager would even consider following such hellish training. "Please leave me alone!" She yelled back, wondering wildly if that would have any effect.

It didn't. She ran into the trees, dodging trunks and fallen logs with the ease that only came with years of running through them.

* * *

Dia was not happy. The distance between them, which she had closed during the straight run across a space without obstacles, had widened again as she had to slow down to avoid the trees. And she was starting to tire. Even with the training schedule she'd dug up from an older school idol group – that Kanan had to force them all to follow – her stamina wasn't all that great. An idea came to her, to catch the blonde who was getting further and further away. She stopped, dug in her bag for a snack she was sure she had brought. She pulled it out and held it above her head.

"I HAVE CHOCOLATE!" She shouted into the quiet forest.

The blonde was at her side immediately. "Chocolate?" The girl stared at the sweet, her sky blue eyes shining.

* * *

Eri nibbled on the chocolate bar as she trailed the stranger back to the villa. _She can't be that bad_ , Eri reasoned, _if she gives me chocolate._ "Um…I'm Ayase Eri. You are…?"

"Kurosawa Dia. Sorry if I startled you earlier. I was looking for my friends, since they just vanished on me."

"Ah, mine too! I took my eyes off them for ten minutes for a break, and they were just gone!"

"Well then, shall we look for them together?" Dia asked, turning to give Eri a confident smile. "I don't know why, but I feel like we can do it if we work together, Eri-san!"

"O-Okay!"

Even though she still couldn't shake off her uneasiness…

* * *

 **Eri: Normally there's two pairings in a full chapter. But this time there's only one, so it's a half-chapter!**

 **Dia: Don't use the word 'pairing'.**

 **Eri: Why not?**

 **Dia: There have been heated battles surrounding that word. It is best to avoid using it whenever possible.**

 **Eri: What's wrong with it though? Pairing.**

 **Dia: ... *starts packing her things***

 **Eri: What are you doing? Dia-san?**

 **Dia: *sighs* I respect you a lot, Eri-san, but it's time for us to part ways.**

 **Eri: You mean...**

 **Dia: Yes. It's time for the shuffle to resume. I've overstayed my portion of it far too long.**

 **Eri: B-But we finally bonded this chapter!**

 **Dia: I will see you again the next time we share a chapter. Until then, good-bye.**

 **Eri: No...come back!**

 **(Author note: So the ending card became a drama because...reasons. I actually wrote the beginning and ending cards twice because the first time I forgot to save...also please forgive me for making Eri-chi so useless. I hope you enjoy the chapter regardless of that fact.)**


	4. Chapter 3

**Eri: After nearly a year, probably, of no updates, we finally have a new update to this time mess! This time, I'm with a new friend.**

 **Hanamaru: Hello! I'm Hanamaru!**

 **Eri: [to the readers] I've just met her a few minutes ago and she's been eating non-stop. Is this normal?**

 **Hanamaru: [didn't hear] So, there haven't been many reviews since last time zura. I think we should just get on with the chapter for today.**

 **Eri: Ah, but I do want to clarify something. I am not falling for Dia. No matter how cute she is, my heart has already decided on someone.**

 **Hanamaru: Do you mean Chocolate-san?**

 **Eri: No!**

 **Hanamaru: Well, we'll see about that zura. On with the chapter!**

* * *

Nozomi had been considering sneaking off from practice long before Eri called for a ten-minute break. She normally supported the blonde's ideas but asking for more than the required practice hour was something she was starting to get bored of. Even if they were trapped within the villa's immediate area, she would much rather spend her time pranking one of the other members, with or without other helpers.

Yet, she knew immediately that there was something wrong when the ten-minute break was over and she didn't hear Eri's petulant call from outside. She opened the window of the room she'd chosen to hide in and peered down at the open space below. "She really isn't there?" Nozomi closed the window again, running down the stairs inside to the exit closest to that side of the villa.

Once outside, she searched the area for any signs of her friends. There was none to be found; it was as if they had simply disappeared into the fog that surrounded the villa. Were they really gone? Nozomi couldn't believe it. Not after they'd been stuck together in the time loop for five years. She didn't want to believe it. "If this is a prank, it isn't funny!" She shouted. Then she stood still, and listened for the giggles of her friends as they hid from her. Only silence came to her. She couldn't accept that they had all just vanished. They had to be hiding in the woods, right? She ran into treeline, calling out her friends' names. "Rin-chan! Hanayo-chan! Nico-chi!"

"Eri-chi, please answer me!"

* * *

Mari took one second to recollect herself after the whatever it was that passed through her. Then, realizing that no one else was around her anymore, she did the only logical thing she could think of. She turned and walked back the way they had come, figuring that if anything happened, she would find her friends afterwards. She didn't mind the fog that much, even though it made her colder than she would have preferred. She'd been walking through the fog for quite a distance when it started to clear up.

"Huh?" To say she was confused was an understatement. Mari had walked straight through the fog, without taking any turns, yet she was back in front of the villa again. She glanced over her shoulder at the fog, finding the white mist more unsettling now. "I guess I just have to look around then…" She gazed up at the villa again. The building was just as unsettling as the fog behind her. She shook her head. "Nope. No way am I going in there. I'll take a walk around first, and see if I find anyone."

* * *

Nozomi took a moment to catch her breath. It hadn't been a good idea to run straight through the forest, even though she knew how to avoid the things in her path by this point, because she had plunged straight into the fog. She didn't know how long she'd run in the white mist but she had been terrified by it. She'd heard the footsteps of someone else, but she couldn't see anyone in the fog. And everyone in μ's already knew to avoid the fog – it didn't lead anywhere and only made the person walking it feel cold. She'd just forgotten where the edge of the forest had been in her search, that's all.

It wasn't too far to the edge of the treeline from where she stood next to the fog. She glanced up, thinking she saw something moving in the distance and did a double-take when she realized she was seeing blonde hair. She took another moment to prepare herself for the run back. Eri should be proud for her longer run, though Nozomi reminded herself to give Eri a proper punishment for hiding for so long.

* * *

"Eri-chi!"

Mari heard the cry mere seconds before whoever had shouted slammed into her. Instinctively, she shoved the other girl away, scrambling to get into a defensive posture before she was attacked again.

"Wait…you're not her..." The other girl sounded disappointed.

Mari waited, but the other girl didn't look threatening. In fact, it was the opposite. The girl looked like she was about to cry. "Who are you looking for?" Mari asked gently. "I'll help you look."

"Ah, um…I'm looking for my friends. They just disappeared suddenly…"

"Really? Mine too." Mari said, holding her hand out to the other teenager. "Come on. We'll look together!"

"…okay." The other girl took her hand. "My name's Nozomi. What's yours?"

"I'm Mari!" Mari said brightly as she shook Nozomi's hand. "Nice to meet you!"

* * *

Kotori had just about made up her mind to take a walk when she heard a thud from downstairs. Leaving her sewing room, she hurried to the rail to look down at the lounge. No one had gotten hurt in a long time, so she was extremely intrigued by the sound of someone hurting themselves. Not that she wanted to see someone hurt though. Maybe it was Honoka, or Rin. Those two always seemed to get into the most trouble, no matter how long they had spent getting to know every inch of their limited space.

"What happened this time?" She called out, peering down. A shiver passed through her as she realized none of her friends were down there. Instead, a teenager in an unfamiliar sailor uniform looked up at her with the same confusion Kotori felt. She could either confront the stranger or run back into her sewing room. She decided to run, quickly turning away from the rail and fleeing to the safety of her room.

"Wait!" She heard the shout but didn't heed it.

Kotori entered the sewing room and slammed the door shut. She reached for the doorknob, before remembering there were no locks on the upstairs rooms. "Ah, but I have my escape rope – " She glanced around the room, before remembering she had decided to make a plush of one of her friends for her one hour of required sewing. "Why did I do that instead of making a rope like I normally do?!" She cried aloud. The plush would disappear at the conclusion of the day anyway, when the time loop reset. She wished she could climb down, but she was neither athletic enough nor courageous enough to climb out of the second-floor window.

There was a knock at the door.

* * *

You didn't want to terrify the girl she knew was on the other side of the door. She did need answers though, and preferably some clarification as to what exactly was going on in the villa. And her foot still hurt from when she bumped into the couch. She knocked again. "My name is Watanabe You! I didn't mean to scare you or anything! I just want to talk! We can talk through the door if it makes you feel better!"

"What do you want to know?" Came the scared response.

"I was visiting this place and now I can't leave – the fog keeps turning me back here every time I try! Do you know why?"

The door clicked open and You looked at the other teenager again. She felt they were about the same age and hoped that sense of familiarity would help overcome the other's fear.

"I don't know." The other girl said. "My friends and I have been trapped here for five years."

 _Five years…_ You couldn't even imagine being trapped for a day in this place, let alone five years. _Wait, μ's disappeared five years ago, right? Could it be – No. No way. They were students when they disappeared. They wouldn't be students anymore by now._ "Your friends?" She finally said. "Are they around?"

"I haven't seen them today. Maybe they're all outside practicing?"

You shook her head. "I looked around a bit before I came inside. I haven't seen anyone except you."

The other girl paled. She pushed past You, rushing down the stairs.

"Hey!" You called after her. She glanced into the sewing room, a bit envious of the expensive sewing machine she saw inside, and followed the other teenager. "Don't leave me behind!"

* * *

Kotori felt her heart thumping loudly as she exited the villa and ran around the corner to where Eri was definitely holding practice. "Eri-cha-" The name died on her tongue as she realized no one was there. The grassy expanse was empty, even though they all should have been out here.

"I told you no one was here." You must have followed her. "Maybe if we stick together, we can find- agh!"

Kotori pinned You down, finding strength in her despair. She wrapped her hands around You's throat. "It's all your fault! Where are they?!"

"I…I don't know!" You choked.

Kotori ignored You's attempts to break her hold. "Lies! Everyone was here until you came!"

* * *

"My friends are gone too!" You managed to gasp out. "It's not my fault!" She stared into the other girl's amber eyes, desperately hoping that she would listen and believe her.

* * *

 **Hanayo: [in shock]  
**

 **Hanamaru: That...was surprising. I really hope You-chan is okay...**

 **Hanayo: I've never seen Kotori-chan act like that! Somebody do something!**

 **Hanamaru: Yeah...also, when did you get here?**

 **Hanayo: Huh? I've been here since around halfway through the chapter. Eri-chan was crying when she passed the shuffle baton to me. I wonder what happened.**

 **Hanamaru: Oh...well, it's nice to meet you zura!  
**

 **Hanayo: I-It's nice to meet you too! Um...zura?**

 **Hanamaru: Aah! I did it again!**

 **Hanayo: ...are you okay?**

 **Hanamaru: [nods] Just end this chapter already, please!**

 **Hanayo: R-Right! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review if you can, and I-I'll see you in the next chapter!**


End file.
